So good it's on my list of reasons to move to California!
Written: Jul 02 '00 (Updated Jul 02 '00)
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: Excellent service, fresh food that doesn't taste like fast food, made to order
Cons: 5-10 minute wait, but it's worth it
|
|
|
| QueenLyssa's Full Review: In-N-Out Burger |
Real meat that's never seen a freezer. Fries made straight from the potato. Made the way you want it and delivered with a smile. This is what fast food is supposed to be, not a compromise between cheap quick edibles and great service and taste.
The menu may be limited at In-N-Out, but they've been serving the same food since the first In-N-Out opened and there's no complaints here. Your choices are between two kinds of hamburgers, single or double-double. Additional meal components are fries, drinks, and shakes. That's it. But by limiting themselves to what they do best, In-N-Out is able to concentrate on quality of food and service, and they blow those other fast food chains right out of the water. KA-BOOM!
Let's start with the burgers. You know that mouth-watering fresh off the grill taste you expect from better sit-down restaurants? Imagine getting it in a drive-thru. None of those tiny grey patties that could double for breakfast sausage drained of flavor or what you might expect to be served by an alien trying to make you feel less homesick after your abduction. No, this is a hamburger for meat lovers, ground fresh, cooked fresh, and bursting with beef flavor. Now add cheese, real cheese, not some processed slab of orange plastic melted over the alien patty. What else you want on there? Thick slices of fresh tomato that's actually been allowed to ripen fully? How about fresh onion, or better yet, grilled onion? And don't forget the super fresh hand-leafed, never shredded, lettuce. They don't get anything out of a bag here.
Now you need something to go with that burger. Fries, the American classic. Oh, yeah. But forget those starch sticks you get at those other places. You know the fries are bad at most fast-food places when they have to offer 'improved' versions every few years, but In-N-Out serves them just as they always have. They grab a potato, yes, a potato, and drop it through the slicer right into the oil. Talk about tasting fresh! The skins are left on for maximum flavor and salting is left to your tastes. Piping hot and never any unexpected frozen centers.
Drinks are a fairly standard fare, yes? Well, In-N-Out has your usual stock of sodas, but there's also their lemonade. Tart, sweet, pulpy.. it tastes like real lemonade like your mom used to make if you were the lucky sort of kid. If you want to go all out, though, opt for a shake. Vanilla, chocolate, or strawberry, you'll get a frosty treat so thick you have to hold it for a bit before you can suck it through even a large straw.
The people serving this food are proud of it, and it shows. They greet you with a real smile, not a fake my-boss-says-I-have-to one. Granted, they're probably dealing with fewer complaints than most fast food workers, and when lunch break comes, they get to enjoy a little bit of old-fashioned heaven themselves, so they're under less stress. You have a special order? No problem for them. The assembly line mentality doesn't exist at In-N-Out, so you're not a disruption for harried burger flippers churning out mass production meals. I go for a double single (two slices of meat, one slice of cheese) with extra tomato, grilled onion, and no pickles. Not a worry at all, they happily make it up fresh when I order the same as they do those ordered straight off the menu, and in 17 years I've never had an order come out wrong. Try saying that about your local Mickey D's or BK.
Now you may have to wait a couple of extra minutes to get your order, since they can't just reach back and grab a pre-made burger off a heat-tray. They're making that burger just for you, so give them five minutes to put in their best effort (maybe ten if you're in a lunchtime line that goes around the block). You're not here to just stuff your face, you're here to get a meal you can savor, and you get it faster than you could make it yourself or be served in a sit-down restaurant and a lot cheaper to boot.
Pardon me, I have to go now. I've gotten myself drooling and have to make a run for a double-single, extra mater, grilled onion, hold the pickles, an order of fries, and a vanilla shake. Yum!
Cost for a full meal of a double-double, fries, and a shake will run about $5 per person. Store hours are Sun-Thurs 10:30am-1:00am, Fri-Sat 10:30am-1:30am. See http://www.in-n-out.com for store locations and other information.
Recommended:
Yes
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
QueenLyssa
|
|
Member: Lyssa Jaraba
Location: Riverside, CA
Reviews written: 64
Trusted by: 19 members
About Me:
It's good to be queen.
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.